Method for controlling information terminal apparatus

ABSTRACT

A control method causes a computer of an information terminal apparatus to perform a process including: receiving, from a first server, first display data causing a user of the information terminal apparatus to confirm the purpose of use of recipe information and asking for the permission to collect the recipe information; accessing a second server and receiving selected recipe information and control data for a cooker for preparation based on the selected recipe information; and when it is selected to permit collecting the recipe information for a purpose of use related to health care, and it is determined that selected recipe information corresponding to the set control data has an identifier indicating that the recipe is for food related to a specific constitution, disorder, disease, or allergy, transmitting the selected recipe information with the identifier, in association with a user ID of the information terminal apparatus, to the first server.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No.2013-186054, filed on Sep. 9, 2013, the contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a method for controlling aninformation terminal apparatus that obtains recipe information for afood item from a server device via a network.

2. Description of the Related Art

Japanese Patent No. 4342117 discloses a food recipe informationproviding system that transmits recipe information for a food item to auser terminal. In this food recipe information providing system, a hostserver transmits food recipe information for a first food item to theuser terminal in response to a request signal transmitted from the userterminal, and transmits to the user terminal food recipe information fora second food item that can be prepared while a cooker prepares thefirst food item in accordance with the food recipe information.Accordingly, the user can easily find a second food item that can beprepared while a first food item is being prepared.

Japanese Patent No. 4188524 discloses a microwave oven system. In thismicrowave oven system, a host computer stores homepage informationincluding a menu-to-prepare selection screen for selecting a desiredfood item from among a plurality of food items. An informationprocessing apparatus obtains the homepage information from the hostcomputer, and displays a homepage screen based on the obtained homepageinformation. A microwave oven displays, on a displaying unit, displaydata included in supplied information supplied from the informationprocessing apparatus, recognizes heating control data included in thesupplied information in response to a user operation, and performs aheating operation.

The homepage information transmitted from the host computer to theinformation processing apparatus includes food data and screen data. Thefood data includes, for each of a plurality of food items, descriptiondisplay information for describing how to prepare the food item, whichincludes the name of the food item, ingredients, and information on acooker(s) to use, and heating control data for heating the food itemtransferred to the microwave oven. The screen data includes informationfor displaying a food item selected on the menu-to-prepare selectionscreen, and display information of a transfer instruction buttonoperated for transferring food data to the information processingapparatus. Data supplied as supplied information from the informationprocessing apparatus to the microwave oven includes the above-mentionedheating control data and display data based on the above-mentioneddescription display information.

Besides the above-described related art, a service model referred to asa “cloud service” has been investigated in recent years. As part of thisinvestigation, it has been investigated to accumulate, from a homeappliance, information regarding the use of the home appliance by a userin a server that provides a cloud service, and provide a service thatsuits the user by utilizing the accumulated information.

SUMMARY

However, the above-mentioned cloud service is currently underinvestigation, and further investigation and improvement are necessaryfor realization. In particular, there has not been a cloud system thatcollects and utilizes recipe information selected by a user, which hasbeen specifically investigated in terms of the protection of the user'sprivacy. Thus, a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure provides a method for controlling an information processingterminal that realizes a cloud system that collects and utilizes recipeinformation selected by a user.

A method for controlling an information terminal apparatus, according toan embodiment of the present disclosure, is a method for controlling aninformation terminal apparatus connectable to a first server thatcollects information and to a second server that provides recipeinformation indicating a cooking recipe used in a cooker. The methodcauses a computer of the information terminal apparatus to perform aprocess including: (1) receiving, from the first server via a firstnetwork, first display data for causing a user of the informationterminal apparatus to confirm a purpose of use of the recipe informationand for asking the user for a permission to collect the recipeinformation; (2) displaying the first display data on a display of theinformation terminal apparatus; (3) accessing the second server via asecond network and receiving, from the second server, selected recipeinformation selected from among a plurality of items of recipeinformation on the information terminal apparatus and control data forthe cooker for a preparation based on the selected recipe information,the plurality of items of recipe information including recipeinformation with an identifier indicating that the recipe information isfor a food item related to a specific constitution, disorder, disease,or allergy; (4) displaying the selected recipe information on thedisplay of the information terminal apparatus; (5) setting the controldata in the cooker by using the control data; and (6) in a case where ithas been selected to permit collecting the recipe information for apurpose of use related to health care, out of the purpose of use on theinformation terminal apparatus using the first display data, and in acase where it has been determined that selected recipe informationcorresponding to the set control data has the identifier, transmittingthe selected recipe information with the identifier, in association witha user ID of the information terminal apparatus, to the first server.

These general and specific aspects may be implemented using a system, amethod, and a computer program, and any combination of systems, methods,and computer programs.

According to the above-described embodiment, further improvement can bemade for realization of a cloud service that collects and utilizesrecipe information selected by a user. Additional benefits andadvantages of the disclosed embodiments will be apparent from thespecification and Figures. The benefits and/or advantages may beindividually provided by the various embodiments and features of thespecification and Figures, and need not all be provided in order toobtain one or more of the same.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an overview of the configuration of acooker system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating an overview of the configuration of acooker system according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of acooker system according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a server;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a mobileterminal;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a cookinghome appliance;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a user registration process performedbetween the server and the mobile terminal;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of personal informationaccumulated in a personal information database (DB);

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a process of confirming the purposeof provision of recipe information;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a purpose-of-provisionconfirmation screen;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in apermission DB;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating another example of thepurpose-of-provision confirmation screen;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a process of obtaining, by a user,recipe information and control data from the server by using the mobileterminal, and setting the control data in the cooking home appliance;

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in arecipe DB;

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a recipe selectionscreen;

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary screen indicating thedetails of selected recipe information;

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary screen prompting theuser to touch the cooking home appliance;

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary screen indicatingcompletion of the setting;

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary screen indicatingcompletion of transmission of the selected recipe information to theserver;

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of information recorded ina history DB;

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary screen for settingwhether or not collecting information is permitted;

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an embodiment ofa cooker system including two servers;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating a recipe information obtaining andtransmitting process according to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 21;

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an embodiment ofa cooker system including three servers;

FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating a recipe information obtaining andtransmitting process according to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 23;

FIGS. 25A to 25C are diagrams illustrating the overall configuration ofa service providing system according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of a servicetype 1 in the service providing system according to the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of a servicetype 2 in the service providing system according to the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of a servicetype 3 in the service providing system according to the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of a servicetype 4 in the service providing system according to the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 1. Findings that Form Basis of the PresentDisclosure

Before description of a specific embodiment, findings that form thebasis of the present disclosure will be described.

In the food recipe information providing system disclosed in JapanesePatent No. 4342117, the host server transmits food recipe information tothe user terminal. However, the food recipe information remains to beused by the user of the terminal which has received the information, andno investigations have been conducted to apply the recipe information toa cloud service.

In Japanese Patent No. 4188524, the information processing apparatusdisplays a homepage screen on the basis of homepage information held bythe host computer, and transmits supplied information to the microwaveoven. As mentioned above, the supplied information includes heatingcontrol data for heating the food item, and display data based ondescription display information for describing how to prepare the fooditem, which includes the name of the food item, ingredients, andinformation of a cooker(s) to use. The microwave oven displays a screenbased on the display data, recognizes the heating control data, andperforms a heating operation. That is, the microwave oven obtains anddisplays information corresponding to description display informationincluded in homepage information held by the host computer via theinformation processing apparatus, and performs a heating operation basedon the heating control data. However, the description displayinformation and the heating control data remain to be used by a user ofthe microwave oven, and no investigations have been conducted to applythese items of information to a cloud service.

The inventors of the present disclosure have conducted the followinginvestigations for providing a cloud service using information (useinformation) regarding the use of a home appliance. In particular, whencollecting use information, it is necessary to ask the user of a homeappliance for the permission to collect use information. There has notbeen a system that specifically investigates this point yet.

For users, it is desirable that use information be provided to a minimumrange. That is, it is desirable to reduce the risk of leakage ofpersonal information as a result of providing use information to anunnecessarily wide range. In contrast, it is bothersome to ask the userfor the permission to provide use information every time use informationis to be provided.

Conversely, for a service provider who receives provision of useinformation, it is desirable to ask for provision of use information inunits corresponding to applications of service provision. If provisionof use information in units that are smaller than units corresponding toapplications of service provision is received, information becomesoveremphasized, resulting in an obstacle to appropriate serviceprovision.

The inventors have conducted the following investigations forimprovement in view of these points.

2. Brief Overview of the Present Disclosure

A method of controlling an information terminal apparatus according toan embodiment of the present disclosure is a method for controlling aninformation terminal apparatus connectable to a first server thatcollects information and to a second server that provides recipeinformation indicating a cooking recipe used in a cooker. The methodcauses a computer of the information terminal apparatus to perform aprocess including: (1) receiving, from the first server via a firstnetwork, first display data for causing a user of the informationterminal apparatus to confirm a purpose of use of the recipe informationand for asking the user for a permission to collect the recipeinformation; (2) displaying the first display data on a display of theinformation terminal apparatus; (3) accessing the second server via asecond network and receiving, from the second server, selected recipeinformation selected from among a plurality of items of recipeinformation on the information terminal apparatus and control data forthe cooker for a preparation based on the selected recipe information,the plurality of items of recipe information including recipeinformation with an identifier indicating that the recipe information isfor a food item related to a specific constitution, disorder, disease,or allergy; (4) displaying the selected recipe information on thedisplay of the information terminal apparatus; (5) setting the controldata in the cooker by using the control data; and (6) in a case where ithas been selected to permit collecting the recipe information for apurpose of use related to health care, out of the purpose of use on theinformation terminal apparatus using the first display data, and in acase where it has been determined that selected recipe informationcorresponding to the set control data has the identifier, transmittingthe selected recipe information with the identifier, in association witha user ID of the information terminal apparatus, to the first server.

In a case where it has been determined that selected recipe informationcorresponding to the control data does not have the identifier, theselected recipe information, which does not have the identifier, may notbe transmitted to the first server.

The first server may be a server that is identical to the second server.

The first server may be a server that is different from the secondserver.

The process may further include, when setting the control data in thecooker by using the control data, determining whether or not selectedrecipe information corresponding to the control data has the identifier.

The process may further include, in a case of setting the control datain the cooker by using the control data, after receiving a response fromthe cooker indicating that the setting is completed, transmitting theselected recipe information to the first server.

The process may further include, after transmitting the selected recipeinformation with the identifier to the first server, causing theselected recipe information to be in a state in which the selectedrecipe information is deletable from a memory of the informationterminal apparatus.

The process may further include, after transmitting the selected recipeinformation with the identifier to the first server, displaying, on thedisplay of the information terminal apparatus, second display dataindicating that the selected recipe information has been transmitted tothe first server.

The first display data may include an item for specifying a period inwhich the recipe information is provided.

The cooker may be a microwave oven.

A computer program according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure is used in an information terminal apparatus connectable to afirst server that collects information and to a second server thatprovides recipe information indicating a cooking recipe used in acooker. The program causes a computer of the information terminalapparatus to perform a process including: (1) receiving, from the firstserver via a first network, first display data for causing a user of theinformation terminal apparatus to confirm a purpose of use of the recipeinformation and for asking the user for a permission to collect therecipe information; (2) displaying the first display data on a displayof the information terminal apparatus; (3) accessing the second servervia a second network and receiving, from the second server, selectedrecipe information selected from among a plurality of items of recipeinformation on the information terminal apparatus and control data forthe cooker for a preparation based on the selected recipe information,the plurality of items of recipe information including recipeinformation with an identifier indicating that the recipe information isfor a food item related to a specific constitution, disorder, disease,or allergy; (4) displaying the selected recipe information on thedisplay of the information terminal apparatus; (5) setting the controldata in the cooker by using the control data; and (6) in a case where ithas been selected to permit collecting the recipe information for apurpose of use related to health care, out of the purpose of use on theinformation terminal apparatus using the first display data, and in acase where it has been determined that selected recipe informationcorresponding to the set control data has the identifier, transmittingthe selected recipe information with the identifier, in association witha user ID of the information terminal apparatus, to the first server.

A cooker system according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure includes the following: a cooker; a first server thatcollects information; a second server that provides recipe informationindicating a cooking recipe used in the cooker; and an informationterminal apparatus connectable to the first server and the secondserver, the information terminal apparatus being capable of controllingthe cooker. The first server transmits, via a first network to theinformation terminal apparatus, first display data for causing a user ofthe information terminal apparatus to confirm a purpose of use of therecipe information and for asking the user for a permission to collectthe recipe information. The first display data is displayed on a displayof the information terminal apparatus. The second server transmits, viaa second network to the information terminal apparatus, selected recipeinformation selected from among a plurality of items of recipeinformation on the information terminal apparatus and control data forthe cooker for a preparation based on the selected recipe information,the plurality of items of recipe information including recipeinformation with an identifier indicating that the recipe information isfor a food item related to a specific constitution, disorder, disease,or allergy. The information terminal apparatus displays the selectedrecipe information on the display of the information terminal apparatus.The information terminal apparatus sets the control data in the cookerby using the control data. In a case where it has been selected topermit collecting the recipe information for a purpose of use related tohealth care, out of the purpose of use on the information terminalapparatus using the first display data, and in a case where it has beendetermined that selected recipe information corresponding to the setcontrol data has the identifier, the information terminal apparatustransmits the selected recipe information with the identifier, inassociation with a user ID of the information terminal apparatus, to thefirst server.

A cooker according to another embodiment of the present disclosure isused in the above-described cooker system.

A cooker according to another embodiment of the present disclosure is acooker in a cooker system including a first server that collectsinformation, a second server that provides recipe information indicatinga cooking recipe used in the cooker, an information terminal apparatusthat connects to the first server and receives first display data forcausing a user of the information terminal apparatus to confirm apurpose of use of the recipe information and for asking the user for apermission to collect the recipe information, and that connects to thesecond server and receives selected recipe information selected fromamong a plurality of items of recipe information on the informationterminal apparatus and control data for the cooker for a preparationbased on the selected recipe information, and the cooker controllable bythe information terminal apparatus. The cooker includes the following: acontroller that receives, from the information terminal apparatus, thecontrol data received by the information terminal apparatus from thesecond server, and that sets the control data; and a heating unitcontrolled by the controller based on the set control data. Theplurality of items of recipe information include recipe information withan identifier indicating that the recipe information is for a food itemrelated to a specific constitution, disorder, disease, or allergy. In acase where it has been selected to permit collecting the recipeinformation for a purpose of use related to health care, out of thepurpose of use on the information terminal apparatus using the firstdisplay data, and in a case where it has been determined that selectedrecipe information corresponding to the set control data has theidentifier, the information terminal apparatus transmits the selectedrecipe information with the identifier, in association with a user ID ofthe information terminal apparatus, to the first server.

A control method according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure is a method for controlling an information terminal apparatusconnectable to a first server that collects information, to a secondserver that provides recipe information indicating a cooking recipe usedin a cooker, and to a third server that manages control data for thecooker for a preparation corresponding to the recipe information. Themethod causes a computer of the information terminal apparatus toperform a process including: (1) receiving, from the first server via afirst network, first display data for causing a user of the informationterminal apparatus to confirm a purpose of use of the recipe informationand for asking the user for a permission to collect the recipeinformation; (2) displaying the first display data on a display of theinformation terminal apparatus; (3) accessing the second server via asecond network and receiving, from the second server, selected recipeinformation selected from among a plurality of items of recipeinformation on the information terminal apparatus and access informationfor accessing the third server in order to obtain control datacorresponding to the selected recipe information, the plurality of itemsof recipe information including recipe information with an identifierindicating that the recipe information is for a food item related to aspecific constitution, disorder, disease, or allergy; (4) displaying theselected recipe information on the display of the information terminalapparatus; (5) accessing, based on the access information, the thirdserver via a third network, and receiving control data corresponding tothe selected recipe information; (6) setting the received control datain the cooker by using the control data; and (7) in a case where it hasbeen selected to permit collecting the recipe information for a purposeof use related to health care, out of the purpose of use on theinformation terminal apparatus using the first display data, and in acase where it has been determined that selected recipe informationcorresponding to the set control data has the identifier, transmittingthe selected recipe information with the identifier, in association witha user ID of the information terminal apparatus, to the first server.

A computer program according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure is used in an information terminal apparatus connectable to afirst server that collects information, to a second server that providesrecipe information indicating a cooking recipe used in a cooker, and toa third server that manages control data for the cooker for apreparation corresponding to the recipe information. The program causesa computer of the information terminal apparatus to perform a processincluding: (1) receiving, from the first server via a first network,first display data for causing a user of the information terminalapparatus to confirm a purpose of use of the recipe information and forasking the user for a permission to collect the recipe information; (2)displaying the first display data on a display of the informationterminal apparatus; (3) accessing the second server via a second networkand receiving, from the second server, selected recipe informationselected from among a plurality of items of recipe information on theinformation terminal apparatus and access information for accessing thethird server in order to obtain control data corresponding to theselected recipe information, the plurality of items of recipeinformation including recipe information with an identifier indicatingthat the recipe information is for a food item related to a specificconstitution, disorder, disease, or allergy; (4) displaying the selectedrecipe information on the display of the information terminal apparatus;(5) accessing, based on the access information, the third server via athird network, and receiving control data corresponding to the selectedrecipe information; (6) setting the received control data in the cookerby using the control data; and (7) in a case where it has been selectedto permit collecting the recipe information for a purpose of use relatedto health care, out of the purpose of use on the information terminalapparatus using the first display data, and in a case where it has beendetermined that selected recipe information corresponding to the setcontrol data has the identifier, transmitting the selected recipeinformation with the identifier, in association with a user ID of theinformation terminal apparatus, to the first server.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will bespecifically described.

3. Definitions of Terms

First, the definitions of terms used in the present specification willbe described. In the present specification of the present application,the terms are defined as follows.

Cooker (or cooking home appliance): refers to an electrical appliancethat performs a heating operation for cooking using electric power. Anappliance such as a microwave oven, an electric rice cooker, or aninduction-heating (IH) cooking heater corresponds to a cooker. A cookeris configured to set control data associated with recipe information fora food item, and to operate on the basis of the control data. Thecontrol data includes, for example, information of a control commandthat defines an operation mode of the appliance, such as output powerand operation time. The control data can be generated by a server thatmanages and provides recipe information or another server operated inassociation with the former server, and can be set in the cooker via aninformation terminal apparatus.

Information terminal apparatus: refers to an information device that hasa function of displaying information on a display and a communicationfunction. Besides a device that includes a display, a device thatdisplays information on an externally attached display corresponds to aninformation terminal apparatus. An information terminal apparatus maybe, for example, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a mobile phone, anotebook computer, a desktop computer, or a dedicated display terminal.In the present specification, when an information terminal apparatus isa mobile device, this device may be referred to as a “mobile terminal”.

Server (or cloud server): refers to a computer or a recording mediumthat provides information to an information terminal apparatus via anetwork. A server includes a server that manages recipe information andthat provides selected recipe information to an information terminalapparatus in response to a request from the information terminalapparatus, and a server that collects and utilizes recipe informationselected by a user. The latter server has a function of transmitting, toan information terminal apparatus, display data for causing a user ofthe information terminal apparatus to confirm the purpose of use ofrecipe information and for asking the user for the permission to collectthe recipe information. Typically, a server is realizable by acombination of a general computer and software (computer program) thatperforms the above-mentioned operation.

Display data: refers to arbitrary data for displaying information on adisplay. The data format is not restricted to a particular format, anddisplay data may be, for example, data in Exchangeable Markup Language(XML) or Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), text data, or image data.“Display data” may be numeral data not conforming to an existing dataformat. When an information terminal apparatus configures a userinterface that accepts and displays the numeral data, the numeral datacan be referred to as “display data”. In the present specification,displaying a screen based on display data may be represented as“displaying display data” for the sake of convenience.

Network: refers to a network configured by electric communication linesand includes the Internet, a private circuit, and a local area network(LAN). A plurality of types of networks may be combined, and wired orwireless networks may be used.

4. Basic Configuration Example

Next, a basic configuration example of the embodiment of the presentdisclosure will be described. In the following description, the same orsimilar components are given the same reference numeral.

FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an overview of the configuration of acooker system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Asillustrated in FIG. 1A, the cooker system includes an informationterminal apparatus 300, a cooker (cooking home appliance) 400, a firstserver 500, and a second server 600.

The information terminal apparatus 300 is connectable to the firstserver 500, which collects information, via a first network (NW1). Inaddition, the information terminal apparatus 300 is connectable to thesecond server 600, which provides recipe information indicating a recipeto cook, which is used by the cooker 4, via a second network (NW2).

The first server 500 is a server for collecting information andutilizing the collected information for various services. Informationcollected by the first server 500 includes recipe information obtained,by a user of the information terminal apparatus 300, from the secondserver 600. Besides this, the first server 500 may be configured tocollect log information, such as an operation history, from aninformation home appliance held by the user, for example.

The second server 600 is a server that manages recipe information forfood items. Besides the recipe information, the second server 600additionally manages control data, which is set in the cooker 400, inassociation with individual items of recipe information. In response toa request from the information terminal apparatus 300, the second server600 provides recipe information and control data.

The information terminal apparatus 300 is a terminal held by a user andis used for obtaining recipe information and control data and forsetting the control data in the cooker 400. By setting control datatransmitted from the information terminal apparatus 300 in the cooker400, the cooker 400 performs a heating operation that suits thepreparation of a food item corresponding to the control data.

A computer of the information terminal apparatus 300 according to theembodiment executes the following operation by executing a computerprogram stored in a memory.

First, the computer receives, from the first server 500 via the firstnetwork, first display data for causing the user of the informationterminal apparatus 300 to confirm the purpose of use of recipeinformation and for asking the user for the permission to collect recipeinformation, and displays a screen based on the first display data onthe display of the information terminal apparatus 300. Accordingly, theuser can confirm the purpose of use of recipe information and select, ofhis/her own will, whether or not to give the permission to the firstserver 500 to collect recipe information. The purpose of use of recipeinformation includes purposes related to health care. For example, thepurpose of use included may be one that provides useful information orservices to users in order to prevent specific constitutions, disorders,diseases, or allergies by collecting recipes related to these specificconstitutions, disorders, diseases, or allergies.

In addition, the information terminal apparatus 300 accesses the secondserver 600 via the second network, and obtains a plurality of items ofrecipe information from the second server 600. Recipe informationselected from among the plurality of items of recipe information on theinformation terminal apparatus 300 (referred to as “selected recipeinformation”) and control data set in the cooker 400 for a preparationbased on the selected recipe information are obtained from the secondserver 600. Here, the plurality of items of recipe information includerecipe information having identifiers indicating that the recipes arefor food items related to specific constitutions, disorders, diseases,or allergies. For example, recipe information for a food item thatgenerally uses an egg but that uses a substitute ingredient includes anidentifier indicating that the recipe is related to an egg allergy. Inaddition, recipe information for a low-calorie food item includes anidentifier indicating that the recipe is related to a specificconstitution, namely, weight control (diet). The information terminalapparatus 300 displays the selected recipe information on the display,and sets the control data in the cooker 400. Here, the timing to set thecontrol data in the cooker 400 can be arbitrarily set by the user.

In the case where it has been selected to permit collecting recipeinformation for the purpose of use related to health care on a displayscreen based on the first display data, and in the case where it hasbeen determined that selected recipe information corresponding to theset control data has the above-mentioned identifier, the informationterminal apparatus 300 transmits the selected recipe information withthe identifier, in association with the user ID of the informationterminal apparatus 300, to the first server 500. Accordingly, in thecase where it has been selected beforehand to permit collecting recipeinformation for the purpose of use related to health care, the firstserver 500 can collect recipe information with the identifier inassociation with the user ID. As a result, necessary information can becollected within a range in accordance with the purpose of use, withoutcollecting unnecessary information from the user.

FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating an overview of the configuration of acooker system according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.The cooker system includes the information terminal apparatus 300, thecooker 400, the first server 500, the second server 600, and a thirdserver 700. This embodiment has a configuration in which, of thefunctions of the second server 600 in the system illustrated in FIG. 1A,the function of managing and providing control data is separated to thethird server 700. Such a configuration may be adopted in the case where,for example, provision of recipe information using the second server 600and provision of control data for the cooker 400 using the third server700 are performed by different providers. In this case, the informationterminal apparatus 300 is connectable to the first server 500, whichcollects information, the second server 600, which provides recipeinformation indicating a recipe to cook used in the cooker 400, and thethird server 700, which manages control data for the cooker 400 for apreparation corresponding to recipe information. The first server 500,the second server 600, and the third server 700 are capable ofcommunicating with the information terminal apparatus 300 via the firstnetwork (NW1), the second network (NW2), and a third network (NW3),respectively.

The computer of the information terminal apparatus 300 in thisembodiment executes the following operation by executing a computerprogram stored in a memory.

First, as in the above-described example, the computer receives, fromthe first server 500 via the first network, first display data forcausing the user of the information terminal apparatus 300 to confirmthe purpose of use of recipe information and for asking the user for thepermission to collect recipe information, and displays a screen based onthe first display data on the display of the information terminalapparatus 300. Accordingly, the user can confirm the purpose of use ofrecipe information and select, of his/her own will, whether or not togive the permission to the first server 500 to collect recipeinformation.

In addition, the information terminal apparatus 300 accesses the secondserver 600 via the second network, and obtains selected recipeinformation selected from among a plurality of items of recipeinformation on the information terminal apparatus 300, and accessinformation for accessing the third server 700 in order to obtaincontrol data corresponding to the selected recipe information. Here, asin the example illustrated in FIG. 1A, the plurality of items of recipeinformation include recipe information having identifiers indicatingthat the recipes are for food items related to specific constitutions,disorders, diseases, or allergies. The information terminal apparatus300 displays the selected recipe information on the display. Inaddition, the information terminal apparatus 300 accesses the thirdserver 700 via the third network on the basis of the above-mentionedaccess information for accessing the third server 700, and receivescontrol data corresponding to the above-mentioned selected recipeinformation. Thereafter, the information terminal apparatus 300 sets thecontrol data in the cooker 400.

Also in this embodiment, in the case where it has been selected topermit collecting recipe information for the purpose of use related tohealth care on a display screen based on the first display data, and inthe case where it has been determined that selected recipe informationcorresponding to the set control data has the above-mentionedidentifier, the information terminal apparatus 300 transmits theselected recipe information with the identifier, in association with theuser ID of the information terminal apparatus 300, to the first server500. Accordingly, in the case where it has been selected beforehand topermit collecting recipe information for the purpose of use related tohealth care, the first server 500 can collect recipe information withthe identifier in association with the user ID. As a result, necessaryinformation can be collected within a range in accordance with thepurpose of use, without collecting unnecessary information from theuser.

Note that the distribution of the functions of the first server 500, thesecond server 600, and the third server 700 is not limited to theabove-described example, and various implementations are possible. Forexample, the functions of the three servers 500, 600, and 700 can becollected in a single server, or the functions of one server can bedecentralized among multiple servers. Even with such a configuration,components (part of the computer, or a set of multiple computers) withthe individual functions of the above-described first server 500, secondserver 600, and third server 700 can be interpreted as a single server.In addition, part or the entirety of the above-mentioned first network,second network, and third network can be made common. For example, inthe case where one server computer has all the functions of the first tothird servers 500, 600, and 700, the first to third networks may be oneand the same network.

Hereinafter, a more specific embodiment of the present disclosure willbe described.

5. First Embodiment

5.1. Configuration

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of acooker system according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure.As illustrated in FIG. 2, the cooker system according to this embodimentincludes the mobile terminal 300, the cooking home appliance 400, and aserver 501. In this embodiment, the server 501 has the functions of boththe first server 500 and the second server 600 in the above-describedconfiguration illustrated in FIG. 1A.

The server 501 is a computer operated by a provider that provides acloud service, and is located in a building or a data center, forexample, managed by the provider. The server 501 collects informationfrom the mobile terminal 300 via a network (NW), and provides a servicebased on the collected information to the user of the mobile terminal300. Although not illustrated in FIG. 2, the cooking home appliance 400and another home appliance owned by the user may be configured totransmit their log information to the server 501 via a home gateway. Theserver 501 collects the log information, and recipe information obtainedby the user, accumulates the collected information in a database (DB)510, and utilizes the information. In addition, the server 501accumulates recipe information and control data used for the cookinghome appliance 400. In response to an access by the user using themobile terminal 300, the server 501 provides selected recipeinformation, and control data corresponding thereto. In providing therecipe information, the server 501 operates as, for example, a webserver.

The mobile terminal 300 is an information device such as a smartphone.The mobile terminal 300 is capable of accessing the server 501 via anetwork. In addition, the mobile terminal 300 is capable ofcommunicating with the cooking home appliance 400 via near fieldcommunication (NFC). When the mobile terminal 300 obtains display databy using a method such as logging in to a dedicated web site provided bythe server 501, the mobile terminal 300 displays a display screen basedon the display data on a built-in or external display. Accordingly, itbecomes possible for the user to confirm the purpose of providing recipeinformation and to set whether or not to permit providing recipeinformation.

The cooking home appliance 400 is, for example, a microwave oven havingan NFC tag. The cooking home appliance 400 performs near fieldcommunication with the mobile terminal 300, thereby obtaining controldata (control command) from the mobile terminal 300 and setting thecontrol data. Accordingly, the cooking home appliance 400 can execute aheating operation based on the control data.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the server501. The server 501 includes, besides the database 510, a processingcircuit 520 and a communication circuit 530.

The database 510 includes a recipe database (recipe DB) 512 that storesrecipe information for food items, a history database (history DB) 514that stores information regarding the use histories of users, a personalinformation database (personal information DB) 516 that stores personalinformation of users, and a collection permission database (permissionDB) 518 that stores information of setting of whether or not collectingrecipe information is permitted. These databases may be configured in arecording medium such as a hard disk using a known database managementsystem.

The processing circuit 520 is a circuit that controls the overalloperation of the server 501. The processing circuit 520 may be typicallyrealized by a combination of a central processing unit (CPU) and amemory storing a computer program (hereinafter may simply be referred toas a “program”). By executing a command group written in the programexpanded in the memory, the CPU can realize various functions describedlater. Note that the processing circuit 520 may be realized as hardwaresuch as a digital signal processor (DSP) in which a computer program isembedded in a single semiconductor circuit.

The processing circuit 520 includes a screen generator 526 thatgenerates display data to be displayed on the display of the mobileterminal 300, a control command generator 527 that generates a controlcommand for controlling the cooking home appliance 400, and a DBupdating unit 528 that updates the database 510. It is not necessary forthese function units to be physically separated. For example, a CPUexecuting a program may be configured to operate as any of the functionunits in accordance with a processing timing.

The communication circuit 530 is a circuit that performs communicationwith another communication device via a network. The communicationcircuit 530 performs communication that conforms to, for example, theEthernet (registered trademark) standard. Accordingly, the server 501can communicate with the mobile terminal 300 and another home appliance.

The server 501 may include other components such as a function unit forcollecting, editing, and providing log information of a home appliance,a graphic controller, a user interface, and a power supply circuit.However, since such components are not necessarily needed for theunderstanding of this embodiment, descriptions thereof are omitted.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the mobileterminal 300. The mobile terminal 300 includes an input interface (IF)330, a display 340, a communication circuit 350, a near fieldcommunication (NFC) circuit 360, a control circuit 310, and a memory320.

The input interface 330 is a device that accepts an input from the user,and may be, for example, a touch screen, a hardware button, a keyboard,a mouse, or any combination thereof. The display 340 is a device thatdisplays a requested image in response to a command from the controlcircuit 310. The display 340 may be realized by, for example, liquidcrystal or organic electroluminecence (EL). In the case where a touchscreen is adopted as the display 340, the display 340 also serves thefunctions of the input interface 330.

The communication circuit 350 is a circuit that performs communicationwith another communication (such as the communication circuit 530 in theserver 501) via a network. The communication circuit 350 performscommunication that conforms to, for example, the Ethernet (registeredtrademark) standard. The NFC circuit 360 is a circuit that communicateswith the cooking home appliance 400 via NFC. Accordingly, the mobileterminal 300 can be caused to function as an NFC reader/writer.

The control circuit 310 is a circuit (processor) that controls theoverall operation of the mobile terminal 300, and may be realized by,for example, a CPU. By executing a command group written in a programexpanded in the memory 320, the above-mentioned CPU can realize variousfunctions. A command group for realizing the later-described operationof the mobile terminal 300 is written in a compute program. The programmay be transmitted as an application through electric communicationlines such as the Internet. Alternatively, the program may be recordedin a recording medium such as a compact-disc read-only memory (CD-ROM)and may be distributed as a product in the market. The control circuit310 may be realized by hardware such as a DSP in which a computerprogram is embedded in a single semiconductor circuit.

The mobile terminal 300 may include components other than thoseillustrated in FIG. 4. However, since such components are notparticularly needed for the understanding of this embodiment,descriptions thereof are omitted.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the cookinghome appliance 400. The cooking home appliance 400 includes an NFC tag410, a tag communication circuit 420, a processing circuit 430, and aheating unit 450.

The NFC tag 410 is an integrated circuit (IC) chip for performing NFCwith the NFC circuit 360 of the mobile terminal 300. With the NFC tag410, the cooking home appliance 400 can detect the approaching of themobile terminal 300 and receive control data from the mobile terminal300. The tag communication circuit 420 is a circuit for performingserial communication between the NFC tag 410 and the processing circuit430.

The processing circuit 430 is a circuit that controls the operation ofthe cooking home appliance 400, and may be realized by, for example, amicrocomputer. The processing circuit 430 includes a control commandaccepting unit 431, a control command processor 432, a home applianceinformation controller 433, and a memory (home appliance informationholding unit) 434.

The control command accepting unit 431 accepts a control command fromthe tag communication circuit 420, and transfers the control command tothe control command processor 432. The control command processor 432determines the details of processing in accordance with the details ofthe control command, and notifies the home appliance informationcontroller 433 thereof. For example, in the case where the controlcommand is a write command, the control command processor 432 determinesthe details of processing in accordance with the details of the writecommand, such as the details of operation of heating with an output of1000 W for ten minutes. In contrast, in the case where the controlcommand is a read command, the control command processor 432 determinesthe details of processing, such as obtaining information, such as adevice operation history stored in the memory 434. The home applianceinformation controller 433 controls the heating unit 450 or records thedevice operation history in the memory 434 on the basis of the detailsof processing determined by the control command processor 432. Inaddition, in response to issuing of a read command, informationindicating the operation history stored in the memory 434 is transmittedto the mobile terminal 300 via the tag communication circuit 420 and theNFC tag 410.

The heating unit 450 performs a heating operation for cooking inaccordance with a command from the home appliance information controller433. In the case where the cooking home appliance 400 is, for example, amicrowave oven, the heating unit 450 includes a circuit including, forexample, a magnetron that generates microwaves and an inverter thatcontrols the generation of microwaves. In addition, in the case wherethe cooking home appliance 400 is, for example, an electromagneticcooker, the heating unit 450 includes a circuit including, for example,a coil that performs induction heating and an inverter that controls theinduction heating. As described above, the heating unit 450 may havevarious embodiments in accordance with the type of cooking homeappliance 400; these embodiments are common in the point that theyperform a heating operation for cooking in accordance with a controlcommand.

The cooking home appliance 400 may include components other than thoseillustrated in FIG. 5. However, since such components are notparticularly needed for the understanding of this embodiment,descriptions thereof are omitted.

Although it is assumed in this embodiment that NFC is performed betweenthe cooking home appliance 400 and the mobile terminal 300, instead ofNFC, another wireless communication scheme such as Bluetooth (registeredtrademark) or Wi-Fi (registered trademark) may be adopted.

5.2. Operation

Next, the operation of the cooker system according to this embodimentwill be described. In the cooker system according to this embodiment, auser registration process, a recipe information providing purposeconfirmation process, and a recipe information providing process areperformed. Hereinafter, these processes will be specifically described.

5.2.1. User Registration Process

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a user registration process performedbetween the server 501 and the mobile terminal 300. This process isexecuted when a user uses this service for the first time.

First, when the mobile terminal 300 accesses a web site provided by theserver 501 or activates an application for this service by using abrowser, for example, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) authentication isperformed between the server 501 and the mobile terminal 300 (stepS101). When SSL communication is established (step S102), the mobileterminal 300 transmits a user ID to the server 501 (step S103). Theserver 501, which has received the user ID, determines whether thetransmitted user ID has already been registered in the personalinformation DB 516 (step S104). Here, when it is determined that theuser ID has already been registered, the server 501 ends the userregistration process. In this case, for example, the server 501transmits a notification indicating that the user registration has beenalready completed to the mobile terminal 300. In contrast, when it isdetermined that the user ID has not been registered yet, the server 501generates display data for performing registration, and transmits thedisplay data to the mobile terminal 300 (step S105).

The mobile terminal 300, which has received the display data, displays auser information entry accepting screen on the display 340 (step S106).When the user enters a password (PW) and personal information on thescreen, the mobile terminal 300 first transmits the password to theserver 501 (step S107). The server 501 registers the transmittedpassword (step S108). Next, the mobile terminal 300 transmits theentered personal information to the server 501 (step S109). The server501, which has received the personal information, accumulates thepersonal information in association with the user ID in the personalinformation DB 516 (step S110).

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of personal informationaccumulated in the personal information DB 516. The personal informationDB 516 has a table structure storing a user ID and personal informationin an associated manner. Personal information includes information suchas the name, address, date of birth, sex, email address, and hobby. Theconfiguration of the personal information DB 516 may be different fromthat illustrated in FIG. 7.

With the above process, the user registration is completed. Thereafter,the user can use the service according to this embodiment. Although theuser registration is performed from the mobile terminal 300 in theabove-described example, the user registration may be performed from,for example, the browser of a personal computer (PC).

5.2.2. Providing Purpose Confirmation Process

Next, the recipe information providing purpose confirmation process willbe described. The server 501 generates display data for causing a userto confirm the purpose of use of recipe information selected by the userand for asking the user for the permission to collect recipeinformation, and transmits the display data to the mobile terminal 300.Accordingly, the user can be informed of the purpose of use of recipeinformation and can select, of his/her own will, whether or not to givethe permission to collect recipe information. This process may beexecuted at a certain timing, such as immediately after theabove-described user registration process, or when registration of a newdevice is performed.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the recipe information providingpurpose confirmation process. First, the server 501 transmits, to themobile terminal 300, a notification indicating that a process ofconfirming the purpose of providing recipe information is to beperformed (step S201). Next, the server 501 and the mobile terminal 300perform SSL authentication (step S202). When SSL communication isestablished (step S203), the mobile terminal 300 displays a screen forprompting the user to enter a password (PW). When a password is enteredby the user, the mobile terminal 300 transmits the user ID and thepassword to the server 501 (step S204). On the basis of the transmitteduser ID and password, the server 501 performs authentication (stepS205). When authentication fails, the providing purpose confirmationprocess ends. When authentication is successful, the server 501transmits, to the mobile terminal 300, a notification indicating thatauthentication has been normally performed (authentication OK) (stepS206). In addition, the server 501 generates display data for displayinga screen for causing the user to confirm the purpose of providinghistory information (providing purpose confirmation screen) (step S207),and transmits the display data to the mobile terminal 300 (step S208).

The providing purpose confirmation screen functions as a screen thatcauses the user of the mobile terminal 300 to confirm the purpose of useof recipe information, and asks the user for the permission to collectrecipe information. Therefore, the above-described display datacorresponds to “first display data” that causes the user of the mobileterminal 300 to confirm the purpose of use of recipe information andasks the user for the permission to collect recipe information. When themobile terminal 300 receives the display data, the mobile terminal 300displays a screen based on the display data on the display 340 (stepS209).

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a providing purposeconfirmation screen. In this example, a screen that causes the user toconfirm that the purpose of use of recipe information resides incollecting and utilizing allergy-related information, and asks the userfor the permission to collect the related recipe information. The userselects “yes” or “no” using the mobile terminal 300, thereby selectingwhether or not to give the permission to collect recipe information. Inthis exemplary screen, an item for specifying a recipe informationproviding period is additionally displayed. The user selects one of “30days”, “180 days”, and “unlimited”, thereby specifying a providingperiod. In this manner, the display data may additionally include anitem for specifying a recipe information providing period.

When the user presses a “send” button on the providing purposeconfirmation screen, the mobile terminal 300 transmits informationindicating the input result to the server 501 (step S210 in FIG. 8). Inresponse to this, the server 501 determines whether the input result is“yes” or “no” on the basis of the information (step S211). When it isdetermined that “yes” has been selected, the server 501 registers thefact that recipe information is collectable in the permission DB 518(step S212). In contrast, when “no” has been selected, the server 501registers the fact that collecting recipe information has been denied inthe permission DB 518 (step S213).

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored inthe permission DB 518. As illustrated in FIG. 10, the permission DB 518stores information indicating whether or not collection is permitted,for each purpose of use associated with a user ID. For example,regarding the purpose of use related to health care, informationindicating whether or not collection is permitted, and a providingperiod are recorded for each of items, such as allergy-related,weight-control-related, and specific-disease-related. Besides thepurpose related to health care, information regarding other purposessuch as for the advertisement purpose may additionally be recorded. Notethat the configuration of the permission DB 518 is not limited to thatillustrated in FIG. 10. For example, whether or not collection ispermitted and a providing period may be managed in larger units, such asthe health care purpose and the advertisement purpose, or may be managedin units of further fragmented items.

With the above process, setting indicating whether or not providingrecipe information is permitted is completed. Thereafter, the mobileterminal 300 determines whether or not to provide selected recipeinformation to the server 501 on the basis of the details of thissetting.

Note that the mobile terminal 300 may display, in addition to theproviding confirmation screen illustrated in FIG. 9, a screen forsetting a more detailed providing condition. For example, after “yes” isselected on the screen illustrated in FIG. 9, the screen may change tothat illustrated in FIG. 11. On the screen illustrated in FIG. 11, thepurpose of use of collected recipe information is indicated in moredetails. For example, a screen asking a user who has an allergy for thepermission to send an ad is displayed. Here, the user selects “yes” or“no”, thereby determining whether an ad related to the allergy is to beprovided to the user. In addition, in the example illustrated in FIG.11, a link to a screen displaying more detailed information on variousservices that can be provided to the user is displayed in a lowerportion of the screen. Yet more detailed information may be displayed bypressing such a link by the user.

5.2.3. Recipe Information Providing Process

Next, a process of obtaining, by the user, recipe information andcontrol data from the server 501 by using the mobile terminal 300, andsetting the control data in the cooking home appliance 400 will bedescribed. This process includes a process of determining, by the mobileterminal 300, whether or not to provide selected recipe information tothe server 501 on the basis of the above-mentioned setting indicatingwhether or not collecting recipe information is permitted.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating this process. First, the mobileterminal 300 accesses the server 501 in accordance with an operationperformed by the user (step S301). Here, the term “access” refers to,for example, activating an application, logging in to a web siteintroducing recipes for food items provided by the server 501, andgiving a request for a recipe selection screen. In response to thisrequest, the server 501 generates display data for displaying a recipeselection screen on the basis of information stored in the recipe DB512, and transmits the display data to the mobile terminal 300 (stepS302). Upon receipt of this, the mobile terminal 300 displays the recipeselection screen on the display 340 (step S303). The recipe selectionscreen includes a plurality of items of recipe information. An exampleof the recipe selection screen will be described later. Here, when theuser selects desired recipe information, the mobile terminal 300transmits information indicating the selected result to the server 501(step S304). Upon receipt of this, the server 501 obtains informationfor displaying a screen of the selected recipe (selected recipeinformation) and control data used for the preparation of that recipe(control command) from the recipe DB 512, and transmits the obtainedinformation and control data to the mobile terminal 300 (step S305). Inresponse to this, the mobile terminal 300 displays the received selectedrecipe information on the display 340 (step S306). Accordingly, the usercan be informed of the details of the selected recipe.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored inthe recipe DB 512. In this example, the recipe DB 512 includesinformation such as a recipe ID, food item name, ingredients,identifier, and control data. Although the recipe DB 512 mayadditionally include information regarding the amount of each ingredientand the preparation procedure besides the above-mentioned items ofinformation, these details are omitted in FIG. 13 for the sake ofconvenience. As in the second item of recipe information in FIG. 13, oneitem of recipe information may include a plurality of identifiers.

Here, an identifier is information indicating that the recipe is for afood item related to a specific constitution, disorder, disease, orallergy. The example illustrated in FIG. 13 includes the followingidentifiers: egg allergy, wheat allergy, low calories, and diabetes. Inthe present specification, a “specific constitution” may include notonly the concept meaning a constitution itself, such as obesity,hypertension, and being likely to gain weight, but also the conceptrelated to the improvement of specific constitutions, such as lowcalories, weight control, and diet.

Control data is data for controlling the operation of the cooking homeappliance 400. As illustrated in FIG. 13, control data may includeinformation such as a heating temperature, operation time, and outputpower. Control data may be saved in the form of a control command thatis used as it is by the cooking home appliance 400, or may be saved inother formats that can be converted to a control command.

The recipe selection screen displayed in step S303 is generated on thebasis of the above-described recipe DB 512.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of the recipe selectionscreen displayed in step S303. In this example, the recipe selectionscreen has a hierarchical structure classified by purpose andingredient. For example, when the user selects the item “allergy”included in a purpose-classified menu on a screen illustrated in part(a) of FIG. 14, a screen is displayed on which the user can select whichallergy with which recipes are related is to be provided, as illustratedin part (b) of FIG. 14. Here, when the user selects “egg” here, recipecandidates for users with an egg allergy are displayed, as illustratedin part (c) of FIG. 14.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary screen indicating thedetails of selected recipe information displayed in step S306. Thisscreen is displayed in the case where “Hamburg steak” has been selectedfrom among recipes illustrated in FIG. 14(c). As illustrated in FIG.14(c), this screen includes display of ingredient information, thepreparation procedure, and the button “set in the oven” for setting thecontrol command in the cooking home appliance 400 (oven in this example)for each heating step.

When the user presses the button “set in the oven” in this state, themobile terminal 300 displays a screen prompting the user to touch thecooking home appliance 400 with the mobile terminal 300 (or brings themobile terminal 300 close to the cooking home appliance 400) on thedisplay 340, as illustrated in FIG. 16, for example. When the userbrings the mobile terminal 300 close to the cooking home appliance 400in this state, the mobile terminal 300 transmits a control command tothe cooking home appliance 400 (step S307 in FIG. 12). Upon receipt ofthis control command, the cooking home appliance 400 sets controlparameters, such as an operation mode, heating temperature, operationtime, and output power, in accordance with the details of the command(step S308). In the present specification, making such settings toenable execution of a heating operation is represented as “settingcontrol data”. When the setting is completed, the cooking home appliance400 transmits a response indicating that the setting is completed(setting completion notification) to the mobile terminal 300 (stepS309). Thereafter, the cooking home appliance 400 drives the heatingunit 450 in accordance with the set details to perform a heatingoperation (step S310).

Upon receipt of the setting completion notification, the mobile terminal300 displays a screen indicating that the setting is completed on thedisplay 340, as illustrated in FIG. 17, for example (step S311). Themobile terminal 300 determines whether or not provision of recipeinformation is permitted (step S312). This determination is performed onthe basis of, for example, the details of the above-described permissionDB 518. At this time, the mobile terminal 300 determines whether or notprovision of recipe information is permitted by asking the server 501for the details of the permission DB 518 or by saving beforehandinformation on whether or not collection is permitted. When it isdetermined that provision of recipe information is not permitted, themobile terminal 300 ends the process without transmitting the selectedrecipe information to the server 501. In contrast, when it is determinedthat provision of recipe information is permitted, the mobile terminal300 determines whether the selected recipe information includes anidentifier indicating that the recipe is for a food item related to aspecific constitution, disorder, disease, or allergy (step S313). Whenit is determined here that the selected recipe information does notinclude such an identifier, the mobile terminal 300 ends the processwithout transmitting the selected recipe information to the server 501.In contrast, when it is determined that the selected recipe informationincludes such an identifier, the mobile terminal 300 transmits theselected recipe information, which includes the identifier, inassociation with the user ID to the server 501 (step S314). Thereafter,the server 501 registers the received selected recipe information inassociation with the user ID in the history DB 514 (step S315). Inaddition, as illustrated in FIG. 18, the mobile terminal 300 displays ascreen indicating that transmission is completed, and changes theselected recipe information stored in a memory in the mobile terminal300 to a deletable state (step S316). Here, a “deletable state” refersto a state in which, though not deleted at that point, a deletion flagis added to the recipe information such that the recipe information willbe deleted at the time this service application is ended. This canprevent such circumstances in which recipe information, whose setting inthe cooking home appliance 400 and transmission to the server 501 arecompleted, remains in the memory and occupies the space of the memoryafter the application is ended.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of information recorded inthe history DB 514. The history DB 514 includes information of a userID, name, tag, recipe ID, and date. Selected recipe information isregistered as “tag” and “recipe ID”. Here, a tag is informationcorresponding to an identifier and may be information such as “egg” foran egg allergy and “wheat” for a wheat allergy. Using this taginformation, the server 501 can detect that each user is interested in aspecific constitution, disorder, disease, or allergy, and provideinformation or services that suit the user.

Note that the above-described process of changing the selected recipeinformation to a deletable state in step S316 may be performed prior totransmission of the selected recipe information in step S314. Forexample, this process may be performed immediately after step S307 orimmediately after step S309. In addition, the selected recipeinformation may be deleted immediately without performing the process ofchanging the selected recipe information to a deletable state.

5.3. Advantageous Effects

With the above configuration and operation, the user of the mobileterminal 300 can easily obtain desired recipe information and performthe settings of a heating operation in the cooking home appliance 400.In addition, only in the case where the user permits beforehandcollecting recipe information for the purpose of health care andselected recipe information has an identifier, the mobile terminal 300performs automatic determination and transmits the selected recipeinformation to the server 501. Therefore, the burden of determiningwhether or not to provide the selected recipe information to the server501 can be moderated, while the privacy can be protected.

In addition, in the case where the frequency of the server 501 receivingprovision of selected recipe information with an identifier from themobile terminal of a specific user is high, it can be estimated that theuser is more or less interested in health care. Therefore, for example,information or services considered to be necessary for the user can beprovided. In contrast, in the case where the frequency of the server 501receiving provision of selected recipe information with an identifierfrom the mobile terminal of a specific user is low, it can be estimatedthat the user is in a relatively healthy state. Therefore, for example,information or services unnecessary for the user can be prevented frombeing provided to the user.

Further, it becomes possible to provide information or services inaccordance with the specific details of selected recipe information withan identifier. Specifically, since it is possible to identify in whichconstitution, disorder, disease or allergy the user is interested, itbecomes possible to provide information or services that is directlyrelated with that interest. As a result, only information or servicesnecessary for the user of the mobile terminal 300 can be provided to theuser of the mobile terminal 300, and unnecessary information or servicesare prevented from uselessly provided to the user. For example,efficient information provision becomes possible in which, to a user whohas an egg allergy, a wheat allergy, or the like, recipe informationincluding no such allergen is provided, and no information unrelated tosuch an allergy is provided.

6. Other Embodiments

The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment,and various embodiments are conceivable. Hereinafter, other embodimentswill be described.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating another exemplary screen for settingwhether or not collecting information is permitted. In this example, thecase is assumed in which, not only recipe information is collected, butalso information (log information) regarding the operation history of ahome appliance is collected. As described here, a system may beconfigured to be capable of setting whether or not to permit loginformation related to allergies, such as the operation frequencyinformation and information related to frequency of usingallergen-inhibitory mode of an air purifier, and information of a usedcooking mode(s), and information of a used food material(s) of a cookinghome appliance.

Next, a specific embodiment corresponding to the configurationillustrated in FIG. 1A will be described.

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an embodiment inwhich the functions of the server 501 according to the first embodimentare shared among two servers (first server 500 and second server 600).The mobile terminal 300 is connected to be communicable with the firstserver 500 via the first network (NW1) and is connected to becommunicable with the second server 600 via the second network (NW2).The first server 500 includes a first database 515 including thepersonal information DB 516 and the permission DB 518. The second server600 includes a second database 615 including the recipe DB 512 and thehistory DB 514. The first server 500 has the same configuration as theserver 501 except for the point that the first server 500 does notinclude the recipe DB 512, the history DB 514, and the control commandgenerator 527 illustrated in FIG. 3. In contrast, the second server 600has the same configuration as the server 501 except for the point thatthe second server 600 does not include the personal information DB 516and the permission DB 518 illustrated in FIG. 3. In this embodiment, theoperation executed by the server 501 in FIGS. 6 and 8 is performed bythe first server 500. In contrast, the operation executed by the server501 in FIG. 12 is cooperatively performed by the first server 500 andthe second server 600.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating a recipe information obtaining andtransmitting process according to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 21.The process illustrated in FIG. 22 is the same as the processillustrated in FIG. 12 except for the point that, of the operation ofthe server 500 in FIG. 12, the operation regarding provision of recipeinformation (steps S301, S302, S304, and S305) is executed by the secondserver 600, and the operation of registering selected recipe informationin the history DB 514 (step S315) is executed by the first server 500.

With the above configuration, it is possible to realize a cooker systemsuitable for the case in which the first server 500, which collectsinformation necessary for providing a cloud service from the mobileterminal 300 of the user, and the second server 600, which providesrecipe information to the user, are operated by different providers.

Next, a specific embodiment corresponding to FIG. 1B will be described.

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an embodiment inwhich the functions of the server 501 according to the first embodimentare shared among three servers (first server 500, second server 600, andthird server 700). This embodiment is different from the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 21 in the point that information of control data(control command) is not included in the recipe DB 612, and the thirdserver 700 which manages control data is additionally provided. Thethird server 700 includes a third database 715 including a controlcommand DB 712 storing control data for each recipe. In this embodiment,the second server 600 additionally transmits access information foraccessing the third server 700 when providing selected recipeinformation to a user, and the mobile terminal 300 accesses the thirdserver 700 on the basis of this access information and obtains controldata.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating a recipe information obtaining andtransmitting process according to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 23.The process illustrated in FIG. 24 is the same as the processillustrated in FIG. 22 except for the point that step S405 is executedinstead of step S305 in FIG. 22, and steps S406 and S407 are added.

With the above configuration, it is possible to realize a cooker systemsuitable for the case in which the first server 500, which collectsinformation necessary for providing a cloud service from the mobileterminal 300 of the user, the second server 600, which provides recipeinformation to the user, and the third server 700, which manages controldata, are operated by different providers.

7. Configuration Example of Service Providing System

Next, a configuration example of a service providing system to which theart of the present disclosure is applicable will be described.

FIG. 25A is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of theservice providing system. The service providing system includes aplurality of information devices located at each of a user group 100, adata center operating company 110, and a service provider 120.

The user group 100 is, for example, a company, an organization, or afamily, and the size of the user group 100 does not matter. The usergroup 100 includes a plurality of home appliances 101 including anappliance A and an appliance B, and a home gateway 102. The plurality ofhome appliances 101 each have a communication function and are capableof transmitting/receiving data to/from another appliance. The pluralityof home appliances 101 may include an appliance that has a configurationand a function for directly connecting to the Internet, and an appliancethat does not have such a configuration or function. The formerappliance may be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, adedicated display terminal, a personal computer (PC), or a television.The latter appliance may be, for example, a cooking home appliance, alight, a washing machine, or a refrigerator. As described here, theremay be an appliance connectable to the Internet via the home gateway102. The plurality of home appliances 101 in the user group 100 are usedby one or more users 10. Note that the users 10 are illustrated for thesake of description and are not included in the service providingsystem.

The home gateway 102 receives log information regarding the operation ofeach of the plurality of home appliances 101 therefrom, and transmitsthe log information to a cloud server 111. The home gateway 102accumulates log information, and provides the accumulated loginformation to the cloud server 111 once a day, for example.

Although the single home gateway 102 is illustrated in FIG. 25A, this isonly an example, and there may be a plurality of home gateways. In thecase where there is a plurality of home gateways, it is only necessarythat, for example, a home gateway connected to an external network(master home gateway) be connected to another home gateway (slave homegateway). The slave home gateway receives and accumulates loginformation from one or more of the plurality of appliances 101, anduploads the log information to a server via the master home gateway.Alternatively, the slave home gateway may output a signal for operatingone or more of the plurality of appliances 101 via the master homegateway.

The data center operating company 110 includes the cloud server 111. Thecloud server 111 is, for example, a virtual server that cooperates withvarious appliances via the Internet. The cloud server 111 manages agroup of large amounts of data (so-called “big data”) that are difficultto be handled with existing general technology, such as mainly a generaldatabase management tool. The data center operating company 110 performsdata management, management of the cloud server 111, and operates a datacenter for performing such management. The details of services performedby the data center operating company 110 will be described later.

The data center operating company 110 is not limited to a company thatonly performs data management or only operates the cloud server 111.FIGS. 25(B) and (C) illustrate modified examples of the data centeroperating company 110. FIG. 25(B) illustrates an appliance manufacturerthat functions as the data center operating company 110. In the casewhere an appliance manufacturer that develops and manufactures anappliance(s) included in the plurality of home appliances 101additionally performs data management or manages the cloud server 111,the appliance manufacturer corresponds to the data center operatingcompany 110. In addition, FIG. 25(C) illustrates a plurality ofcompanies that jointly manage the single cloud server 111. As describedhere, the data center operating company 110 is not limited to a singlecompany. In the case where an appliance manufacturer and anothermanagement company perform data management or operate the cloud server111 in a joint or shared manner, both the manufacturer and the companycorrespond to the data center operating company 110. Although datamanagement or management of the cloud server 111 is performed in a jointor shared manner, only one of the appliance manufacturer and themanagement company may function as the data center operating company110. In addition, the data center operating company 110 may have thefunction of a service provider.

The above-described cloud server 111 may be realized not only as ahardware computer, but also as software in which functions necessary forthe cloud server 111 are programmed.

The service provider 120 includes a server 121. The size of the “server121” here does not matter as long as the server 121 refers to a computeror a recording medium having the function of providing data or servicesbased on the data. For example, because of the point that data may beprovided using a personal PC, the personal PC itself or, for example, amemory in the personal PC may be included in the “server 121”. Inaddition, there is a case in which the service provider 120 does notinclude the server 121.

Note that the home gateway 102 is not essential in the above-describedservice providing system. For example, in the case where the cloudserver 111 performs the entire data management, the home gateway 102 isunnecessary. In addition, in the case where all appliances at home haveconfigurations and functions for connecting to the Internet and there isno appliance that is incapable of connecting to the Internet by itself,the home gateway 102 may be omitted. Log information may be provideddirectly from the plurality of home appliances 101 to the cloud server111 via the Internet.

Next, the flow of information in the above-described service will bedescribed.

First, the appliance A or the appliance B in the user group 100transmits its log information to the cloud server 111 of the data centeroperating company 110. The cloud server 111 receives and accumulates thelog information transmitted from the appliance A or the appliance B(FIG. 25(a)).

Next, the cloud server 111 of the data center operating company 110provides the collected log information in certain units to the serviceprovider 120. Here, the term “certain units” may be units of informationaccumulated by the data center operating company 110 that can beorganized and provided to the service provider 120, or may be unitsrequested by the service provider 120. Although it is described as“certain units”, log information may not necessarily be provided incertain units. There may be a case in which the amount of loginformation to be provided changes in accordance with circumstances. Loginformation is saved in the server 121 included in the service provider120 as occasion calls (FIG. 25(b)).

The service provider 120 organizes the log information as informationthat suits services to be provided to users, and provides theinformation to the users. The users to which the information is providedmay be the users 10 who use or own the plurality of home appliances 101,or may be external users 20. For the method of providing services tousers, for example, services may be directly provided from the serviceprovider 120 to the users 20 (FIG. 25(e), (f)). In addition, forexample, services may be provided to the users 10 again via the cloudserver 111 of the data center operating company 110 (FIG. 25(c), (d)).In addition, the cloud server 111 of the data center operating company110 may organize the log information as information that suites servicesto be provided to users, and provide the information to a computer ofthe service provider 120.

Note that the users 10 and the users 20 may be identical or different.In addition, the plurality of home appliances 101, the cloud server 111,and the server 121 need not be located in one and the same country. Forexample, the plurality of home appliances 101 may be located in Japan,and the cloud server 111 and the server 121 may be located in the UnitedStates, or vice versa. In the case where at least one of the cloudserver 111 and the server 121 provide an analysis result or the like inresponse to an operation (control) by a user(s) and the user(s) canconfirm the analysis result using a display terminal of a PC or thelike, it can be said that the users 10 receive the benefit of the systemin that country. This system is substantially the same as the case inwhich the plurality of home appliances 101, the cloud server 111, andthe server 121 are located in one country.

If information for identifying the individual users 10 is included inlog information collection (FIG. 25(a), (b)) and information provision(FIG. 25(c), (d), (e), (f)), the information may be abused. Therefore,it is possible to conceive an operation in which information foridentifying the individual users 10, such as names, is not included inlog information. In the case where information for identifying theindividual users 10 is included, the information may be encrypted andtransmitted by a transmission source in order to prevent leakage of thepersonal information.

8. Types of Cloud Service for Realizing Service Providing System

The art described in the above-described embodiments may be realized bythe following types of cloud service, for example. Note that the typesof cloud service are not limited to the following types.

8.1 Service Type 1: Self-Data-Center-Type Cloud Service

FIG. 26 illustrates an overview of a service provided by a system usinga service type 1 (self-data-center-type cloud service). In this type,the service provider 120 obtains information from the user group 100,and provides a service to a user(s). In this type, the service provider120 has the function of a data center operating company. That is, theservice provider 120 has a cloud server 203 that manages big data. Thus,there is no data center operating company.

In this type, the service provider 120 operates and manages the datacenter (cloud server) 203. In addition, the service provider 120 managesan operating system (OS) 202 and an application 201. The serviceprovider 120 provides a service using the OS 202 and the application 201managed by the service provider 120 (arrow 204).

8.2. Service Type 2: IaaS-Use Type Cloud Service

FIG. 27 illustrates an overview of a service provided by a systemaccording to a service type 2 (IaaS-use type cloud service). Here,“IaaS” is the acronym of “Infrastructure as a Service”, and is a cloudservice providing model that provides, as a service via the Internet, aninfrastructure itself for constructing and running a computer system.

In this type, the data center operating company 110 operates and managesthe data center (cloud server) 203. In addition, the service provider120 manages the OS 202 and the application 201. The service provider 120provides a service using the OS 202 and the application 201 managed bythe service provider 120 (arrow 204).

8.3. Service Type 3: PaaS-Use Type Cloud Service

FIG. 28 illustrates an overview of a service provided by a systemaccording to a service system 3 (PaaS-use type cloud service). Here,“PaaS” is the acronym of “Platform as a Service”, and is a cloud serviceproviding model that provides, as a service via the Internet, a platformserving as a foundation for constructing and running software.

In this type, the data center operating company 110 manages the OS 202,and operates and manages the data center (cloud server) 203. Inaddition, the service provider 120 manages the application 201. Theservice provider 120 provides a service using the OS 202 managed by thedata center operating company 110 and the application 201 managed by theservice provider 120 (arrow 204).

8.4. Service Type 4: SaaS-Use Type Cloud Service

FIG. 29 illustrates an overview of a service provided by a systemaccording to a service system 4 (SaaS-use type cloud service). Here,“SaaS” is the acronym of “Software as a Service”. The SaaS-use typecloud service is a cloud service providing model in which, for example auser such as a company or a person who does not have a data center(cloud server) has the function of using, via a network such as theInternet, an application provided by a platform provider having a datacenter (cloud server).

In this type, the data center operating company 110 manages theapplication 201, manages the OS 202, and operates and manages the datacenter (cloud server) 203. In addition, the service provider 120provides a service using the OS 202 and the application 201 managed bythe data center operating company 110 (arrow 204).

As described above, the service provider 120 provides a service in anyof the above-described types of cloud service. In addition, for example,the service provider 120 or the data center operating company 110 maydevelop the OS 202, the application 201, or a database for big data byitself, or may outsource the development thereof to a third party.

The art of the present disclosure is useful in realizing a cloud servicethat collects and utilizes recipe information for a food item selectedby a user.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for controlling an information terminalapparatus having a display, the method comprising: receiving, from afirst server via a first network, first display data (i) causing theinformation terminal apparatus to indicate a condition to permitcollecting selection information indicating recipe information selectedby a user and (ii) asking the user for a comprehensive permission tocollect the selection information under the indicated condition, recipeinformation (i) indicating a cooking recipe used in a cooker, and (ii)being provided by a second server, wherein certain recipe informationamong a plurality of items of recipe information additionally includinga specific health identifier when the certain recipe informationconcerns a food item related to a specific constitution, disorder,disease, or allergy; displaying the first display data on the display;receiving, from the second server via a second network, (i) theselection information indicating the recipe information selected fromamong the plurality of items of recipe information and (ii) control datafor cooking preparation in the cooker, the control data corresponding tothe selected recipe information; displaying the selected recipeinformation on the display; transmitting the control data to the cookerfor setting the cooker according to the selected recipe information; anddetermining whether the selected recipe information has the specifichealth identifier; determining whether the user has granted thecomprehensive permission for collecting the selection information underthe indicated condition; and transmitting, to the first server forcollection without asking the user for an individual permission, theselected recipe information in association with a user ID of theinformation terminal apparatus when the selected recipe information isdetermined to include the specific health identifier and it isdetermined that the user has granted the comprehensive permission forcollecting the selection information under the indicated condition. 2.The method according to claim 1, wherein, when the selected recipeinformation does not have the specific health identifier, the selectedrecipe information, which does not have the specific health identifier,is not transmitted to the first server.
 3. The method according to claim1, wherein the first server is a server that is identical to the secondserver.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first server isa server that is different from the second server.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the determining of whether or not theselected recipe information has the specific health identifier isperformed when transmitting the control data to the cooker.
 6. Themethod according to claim 5, further comprising after receiving aresponse from the cooker indicating that the setting is completed,transmitting the selected recipe information to the first server.
 7. Themethod according to claim 1, further comprising after transmitting theselected recipe information having the specific health identifier to thefirst server, causing the selected recipe information to be in a statein which the selected recipe information is set to be deleted from theinformation terminal apparatus when a predetermined condition occurs. 8.The method according to claim 1, further comprising after transmittingthe selected recipe information having the specific health identifier tothe first server, displaying, on the display, second display dataindicating that the selected recipe information having the specifichealth identifier has been transmitted to the first server.
 9. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the first display data includes anitem for specifying a period for the granted comprehensive permission.10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the cooker is a microwaveoven.
 11. A computer-readable non-transitory recording medium storing aprogram used in an information terminal apparatus having a display, theprogram causing the information terminal apparatus to: receive, from afirst server via a first network, first display data (i) causing theinformation terminal apparatus to indicate a condition to permitcollecting selection information indicating recipe information selectedby a user and (ii) asking the user for a comprehensive permission tocollect the selection information under the indicated condition, recipeinformation (i) indicating a cooking recipe used in a cooker, and (ii)being provided by a second server, wherein certain recipe informationamong a plurality of items of recipe information additionally includinga specific health identifier when the certain recipe informationconcerns a food item related to a specific constitution, disorder,disease, or allergy; display the first display data on the display;receive, from the second server via a second network, (i) the selectioninformation indicating the recipe information selected from among theplurality of items of recipe information and (ii) control data forcooking preparation in the cooker, the control data corresponding to theselected recipe information; display the selected recipe information onthe display; transmit the control data to the cooker for setting thecooker according to the selected recipe information; and determinewhether the selected recipe information has the specific healthidentifier; determine whether the user has granted the comprehensivepermission for collecting the selection information under the indicatedcondition; and transmit, to the first server for collection withoutasking the user for an individual permission, the selected recipeinformation in association with a user ID of the information terminalapparatus when the selected recipe information is determined to includethe specific health identifier and it is determined that the user hasgranted the comprehensive permission for collecting the selectioninformation under the indicated condition.
 12. A cooker systemcomprising: a cooker; a first server that collects information; a secondserver that provides recipe information indicating a cooking recipe usedin the cooker; and an information terminal apparatus having a display,the information terminal apparatus configured to control the cooker,wherein the first server transmits, via a first network to theinformation terminal apparatus, first display data (i) causing theinformation terminal apparatus to indicate a condition to permitcollecting selection information indicating recipe information selectedby a user and (ii) asking the user for a comprehensive permission tocollect the selection information under the indicated condition, recipeinformation (i) indicating a cooking recipe used in the cooker, and (ii)being provided by a second server, wherein certain recipe informationamong a plurality of items of recipe information additionally includinga specific health identifier when the certain recipe informationconcerns a food item related to a specific constitution, disorder,disease, or allergy, wherein the first display data is displayed on thedisplay, wherein the second server transmits, via a second network tothe information terminal apparatus, (i) the selection informationindicating the recipe information selected from among the plurality ofitems of recipe information and (ii) control data for cookingpreparation in the cooker, the control data corresponding to theselected recipe information, wherein the information terminal apparatusdisplays the selected recipe information on the display, wherein theinformation terminal apparatus transmits the control data to the cookerfor setting the cooker according to the selected recipe information,wherein the information terminal apparatus determines whether theselected recipe information has the specific health identifier, whereinthe information terminal apparatus determines whether the user hasgranted the comprehensive permission for collecting the selectioninformation under the indicated condition, and wherein, the informationterminal apparatus transmits to the first server for collection withoutasking the user for an individual permission, the selected recipeinformation in association with a user ID of the information terminalapparatus when the selected recipe information is determined to includethe specific health identifier and it is determined that the user hasgranted the comprehensive permission for collecting the selectioninformation under the indicated condition.
 13. A cooker used in thecooker system according to claim
 12. 14. A cooker in a cooker systemincluding a first server that collects information, a second server thatprovides recipe information, the recipe information indicating a cookingrecipe used in the cooker, wherein certain recipe information among aplurality of items of recipe information additionally includes aspecific health identifier when the certain recipe information concernsa food item related to a specific constitution, disorder, disease, orallergy, an information terminal apparatus having a display thatconnects to the first server and receives first display data (i) causingthe information terminal apparatus to indicate a condition to permitcollecting selection information indicating recipe information selectedby a user and (ii) asking the user for a comprehensive permission tocollect the selection information under the indicated condition, and theinformation terminal apparatus that connects to the second server andreceives (i) the selection information indicating the recipe informationselected from among the plurality of items of recipe information and(ii) control data for cooking preparation in the cooker, the controldata corresponding to the selected recipe information, and the cookerconfigured to be controlled by the information terminal apparatus, thecooker comprising: a receiver that receives the control data, from theinformation terminal apparatus, for setting the cooker according to theselected recipe information; a controller that sets the cooker accordingto the control data; and a heating unit controlled by the controllerbased on the set control data, and wherein the selected recipeinformation is determined to include the specific health identifier anddetermined that the user has granted the comprehensive permission forcollecting the selection information under the indicated condition,without asking the user for an individual permission.
 15. A method forcontrolling an information terminal apparatus configured to connect to afirst server that collects information, to a second server that providesrecipe information indicating a cooking recipe used in a cooker, and toa third server that manages control data used in the cooker for acooking preparation corresponding to the recipe information, the methodcomprising: receiving, from the first server via a first network, firstdisplay data (i) causing the information terminal apparatus to indicatea condition to permit collecting selection information indicating therecipe information selected by a user and (ii) asking the user for acomprehensive permission to collect the selection information under theindicated condition, recipe information indicating a cooking recipe usedin a cooker, wherein certain recipe information among a plurality ofitems of recipe information additionally including a specific healthidentifier when the certain recipe information concerns a food itemrelated to a specific constitution, disorder, disease, or allergy;displaying the first display data on a display; receiving, from thesecond server via a second network, (i) the selection informationindicating the recipe information selected from among the plurality ofitems of recipe information and (ii) access information for accessingthe third server to obtain control data corresponding to the selectedrecipe information; displaying the selected recipe information on thedisplay; accessing, based on the access information, the third servervia a third network, and receiving the control data corresponding to theselected recipe information; transmitting the received control data tothe cooker for setting the cooker according to the selected recipeinformation; determining whether the selected recipe information has thespecific health identifier; determining whether the user has granted thecomprehensive permission for collecting the selection information underthe indicated condition; and transmitting, to the first server forcollection without asking the user for an individual permission, theselected recipe information in association with a user ID of theinformation terminal apparatus when the selected recipe information isdetermined to include the specific health identifier and it isdetermined that the user has granted the comprehensive permission forcollecting the selection information under the indicated condition. 16.A computer-readable non-transitory recording medium storing a programused in an information terminal apparatus configured to connect to afirst server that collects information, to a second server that providesrecipe information indicating a cooking recipe used in a cooker, and toa third server that manages control data used in the cooker for acooking preparation corresponding to the recipe information, the programcausing the information terminal apparatus to: receive, from the firstserver via a first network, first display data for causing theinformation terminal apparatus to indicate a condition to permitcollecting selection information indicating recipe information and forasking the user for a comprehensive permission to collect the selectioninformation under the indicated condition, recipe information (i)indicating a cooking recipe used in a cooker, and (ii) being provided bya second server, wherein certain recipe information among a plurality ofitems of recipe information additionally including a specific healthidentifier when the certain recipe information concerns a food itemrelated to a specific constitution, disorder, disease, or allergy;display the first display data on a display; receive, from the secondserver via a second network, (i) the selection information indicatingthe recipe information selected from among the plurality of items ofrecipe information and (ii) access information for accessing the thirdserver to obtain control data corresponding to the selected recipeinformation; display the selected recipe information on the display;access, based on the access information, the third server via a thirdnetwork, and receiving the control data corresponding to the selectedrecipe information; transmit the received control data to the cooker forsetting the cooker according to the selected recipe information;determining whether the selected recipe information has the specifichealth identifier; determining whether the user has granted thecomprehensive permission for collecting the selection information underthe indicated condition; and transmit, to the first server forcollection without asking the user for an individual permission, theselected recipe information in association with a user ID of theinformation terminal apparatus when the selected recipe information isdetermined to include the specific health identifier and it isdetermined that the user has granted the comprehensive permission forcollecting the selection information under the indicated condition.